Topics included their favorite anime, who would win in a battle royale, and the mystery behind the Prism Devices in their music videos.

Check out our video interview with cosmosy below!

cosmosy has been busy releasing a lot of new music this year, including “Paradise ~ I need you ~”, a super catchy song that features the members trying to get the Prism ring. They even channeled the music video’s aesthetic with some of their outfits in the interview.

cosmosy will be performing in Los Angeles at KCON LA 2026, which will take place at the Crypto.com Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center from August 14 to August 16, 2026.

The post cosmosy Talks Anime, Music, and the Mystery Behind the Prism Devices at Anime Expo 2026 appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

We had the chance to chat with Juliette M. Ojeda, who portrays Sophie in the Mamma Mia! national tour. You can check out the video interview above.

“Mama Mia was actually the first musical I ever watched live in person,” Ojeda tells Nerd Reactor. “It was on Royal Caribbean. I was 13, so it was about 10 years ago. This has just always been my dream role. I mean, this was the musical that inspired me to pursue musical theater, to pursue acting and singing.

“That’s just kind of been my journey. I’ve been auditioning for this specific tour for nearly three years. And after going in as the understudy and as an ensemble, I was auditioning for that part. The last thing I expected was for me to land the lead. So it’s been quite the journey, and it’s been really awesome. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

About Mamma Mia!

Synopsis: Set on a Greek island paradise where the sun always shines, a tale of love, friendship, and identity is beautifully told through the timeless hits of ABBA. On the eve of her wedding, a daughter’s quest to discover the father she’s never known brings three men from her mother’s past back to the island they last visited decades ago.

The musical stars Jessica Crouch as Donna Sheridan, Juliette M. Ojeda as Sophie Sheridan, Carly Sakolove as Rosie, Jalynne Steele as Tanya, Leland Burnett as Bill Austin, Rob Hancock and Rob Marnell as Harry Bright, Victor Wallace as Sam Carmichael, and more.

Mamma Mia! tickets are available until July 19th at the Center Theatre Group site. The Ahmanson Theatre is located at 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012.

The post Mamma Mia’s Juliette M. Ojeda Says the Musical That Inspired Her Career Is Now Her Dream Role appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The audio links are available here.

About Paw Patrol: Dino Movie

Synopsis: After their ship gets caught in a mysterious storm, the PAW Patrol pups crash land on an uncharted tropical island filled with dinosaurs. They meet Rex, a pup who has been stranded on the island for years and has become an expert in all things dino-related. When the PAW Patrol’s archrival, Mayor Humdinger, begins recklessly mining in hopes of exploiting the island for its natural resources, he inadvertently causes a huge, dormant volcano to erupt. The PAW Patrol pups are thrown into a series of high-stakes, dino-sized rescues bigger than anything they’ve done before, as they must stop Humdinger before everything on the island goes extinct.

It’s directed by Cal Brunker and written by Brunker and Bob Barlen. It’s based on the television series created by Keith Chapman.

The voice cast includes Carter Young, Mckenna Grace, Terry Crews, Meredith MacNeill, Ron Pardo, Jennifer Hudson, Hayden Chemberlen, Fortune Feimster, Jameela Jamil, Rain Janjua, Bill Nye, Paris Hilton, Lucien Duncan-Reid, William Desrosiers, Nylan Parthipan, and Snoop Dogg, introducing Henry Bolan.

Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie will release in theaters on August 14, 2026.

The post Backstreet Boys Releases New Song, ‘Bottle Up,’ for Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

For those attending San Diego Comic-Con, here’s your chance to experience the ultimate Transformers concert. Hasbro and Reigning Phoenix Music will host the music event, which will take place on Thursday, July 23, at House of Blues San Diego.

The concert will feature The Transformers: The Movie – The Soundtrack – The Reformatted Edition and will be performed live by Knights of Unicron. Stan Bush will be performing “The Touch.” Original composer Vince DiCola will also perform, along with Cold Slither and Britta Phillips (original singing voice of Jem from Jem and the Holograms). More guest announcements to come.

Tickets and VIP Packages are available for purchase at https://www.universe.com/events/the-transformers-the-movie-40th-anniversary-celebration-of-life-concert-tickets-VND0R2.

“I’m thrilled to be part of THE TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE 40th Anniversary Celebration of Life Concert and to celebrate this incredible film with the fans who have kept its spirit alive for four decades,” said Stan Bush in a statement. “It means so much to me that the music, especially ‘The Touch,’ still connects with people in such a powerful way. This anniversary is a tribute to the lasting impact of the movie, the memories it created, and the amazing TRANSFORMERS community that has embraced these songs for 40 years.”

Additionally, Hasbro will have Transformers exclusives at the convention, including the Transformers Optimus Prime & Autobot Jazz Cereal Box Set and Transformers Jem and the Holograms Autobot Blaster & KP GLIT, KP Sundor, and KP Rosanna.

The Transformers: The Movie 40th Anniversary Concert

Date: Thursday, July 23, 2026
Time: Doors at 7 PM | Show at 8 PM
Venue: House of Blues, 1055 5th Ave, San Diego, CA 92101
General admission – $50.00 plus service charges
VIP packages – $100.00 plus service charges
Merch: Exclusive show merch will be available day of

The post The Transformers: The Movie Concert Headed to San Diego Comic-Con 2026 appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Daniel Rojas was the first musician to come on board KPop Demon Hunters and was the architect, along with EJAE.

“[I was] the very first, and I brought in EJAE,” Rojas tells Nerd Reactor. “So EJAE and I worked together with Maggie and Chris for more than three years before anyone else came in. We kind of put it all together as far as like where the songs should go, what the songs should be doing for the story, before different groups of songwriters were called in for different scenes. So it was more, I would say, like the architecture of it all with EJAE.”

600 Songs Were Made for KPop Demon Hunters

The process was very long, and the songwriters worked on 600 songs, only to have 9 songs chosen for the final version of KPop Demon Hunters.

“A lot of these songs had 30 to 40 different versions,” he explained. “By versions, I mean very different, not small revisions, but like whole different tracks or different lyrics, different things. We worked for over five years, and then in the end, it’s only like nine songs. People are like, ‘It took five years to do nine songs?’ I was like, ‘No, it took five years to do 600 songs, out of which the nine that you know.'”

Rojas and EJAE have worked together previously, and he knew that she was perfect for the film.

“I’ve known EJAE for a decade, basically,” the songwriter said. “And I’ve always thought she’s extremely talented, both as a writer and also as a singer. I loved her voice. I’ve used her many times, even just to sing demos and things like that. And especially this being a Korean film, she was born in Seoul, grew up in America, but also goes back there a lot.

“Her family still lives in Korea. It just felt like such a perfect fit. And someone who had been through the K-pop system and had trained at SM Entertainment, I immediately told Maggie, ‘I have the perfect person that we need for this puzzle.’ Because I’m not a K-pop person. I’m not an idol in any way. We were lacking that kind of authentic voice in our team for the music side. The music was so important. So we already had authenticity from Maggie, but we needed a voice in the music department early on that could also guide that light. And I thought EJAE was the perfect match. I made the introduction, brought her in, and we worked together for many years.”

The post How Daniel Rojas Recruited EJAE to Help Shape the Sound of ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Now in theaters, the film is a guerrilla-style comedy in the vein of Jackass and Borat, following two friends trying to perform at Toronto’s Rivoli. What makes this film different from the others is that it makes the main duo, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, the butt of the joke, not the other people involved. The film gives a nod to Back to the Future, in which the two friends time-travel back to 2008 via their RV.

McCarrol joked in a statement about the film’s music: “I did this entire score end to end in one day.”

Listen to the track, “One Last Plan,” below ahead of the album’s release tomorrow.

Check out the film’s track list:

1. Goodbye, Matt
2. Musta Gone Through a Wormhole
3. Real Goths
4. About to Make a Big Mistake
5. Where’s Jay?
6. We, Too, Are Chinese
7. My Old Friend, Matt
8. Famous Jay
9. Breaking News
10. Kind of Hard to Explain
11. Without Any of the Drama
12. Man on CN Tower
13. One Last Plan

You can pre-save the album here.

The film was released in theaters on February 13th and has grossed $1.4 million so far, with a per-screen average of $4,001. The film has been well-received by critics and audiences, with a 97% score for critics and a 96% audience score.

The post Jay McCarrol on Scoring Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie ‘In One Day’ appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Check out our interview below, where we talk about the new album, his love of video games, fantasy books, and Dungeons & Dragons.

One of the biggest inspirations for the album is Elden Ring, the popular action game known for its tough bosses and unforgiving combat.

“Elden Ring is one of my favorite games,” Seven Lions tells Nerd Reactor. “So if you look at the artwork, there’s definitely a lot of inspiration. Maybe not as dark because Elden Ring is pretty dark. I’d say visually, quite a lot of inspiration. Musically, it’s very cinematic. So there’s some crossover there as well.”

Fantasy is a huge influence on the musician.

“Gene Wolfe is my favorite author,” he said. “I’ve been reading Jack Vance’s Dying Earth series. Christopher Buehlman is another author that I’ve been really into lately. I read a lot of fantasy stuff.”

Asleep in the Garden of Infernal Stars features different types of songs, from the somber sounds of “A Crown of Seven Suns” to the heavy bass and drums of “From Beyond.”

“I like different kinds of music,” Seven Lions explained. “So the songs are always very different. There are a lot of mellow moments and a lot of heavy moments. And I think that’s just because I like music that has a lot of dynamics. If it’s all just the same thing, then it gets very boring.”

The album is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, and the Seven Lions site.

The post Seven Lions’ ‘Asleep in the Garden of Infernal Stars’ Draws Inspiration from Elden Ring appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

The intimate KPop Demon Hunters event started with the bar serving up drinks named after the film’s iconic songs: Golden, Takedown, Your Idol, and a non-alcoholic option: Soda Pop. There were also photo opportunities in front of a backdrop adorned with gorgeous flowers. The color scheme screamed, “If Gwi-Ma were floral.” My personal favorite was the meet-and-greet pictures with the songwriters themselves.

Record-Breaking Film with a Record-Breaking Soundtrack

“We had no idea this movie would become the most-watched movie in Netflix history. And if that wasn’t impressive enough, our stellar music team has produced five Grammy nominations,” Maggie Kang said at the start of the panel.

Chris Appelhans added, “We threw so much crazy sh*t at those two. Google Docs that were pages long, with stories, scenes, characters, and things we wanted to do in the songs. Mashup of references from H.O.T to Bill Withers to Imogen Heap to BTS.”

The creative version for KPop Demon Hunters started with Maggie and Chris, for a world that hadn’t been musically defined before, since they wanted the songs to work both inside and outside the narrative. “All the songs were truly the guidance of the directors telling us exactly what they needed,” EJAE said.

EJAE x Mark Sonnenblick Collaboration

While EJAE joined the project early in 2020, before the story was finalized, Mark was brought in much later through Ian Eisendrath, Executive Music Producer. Their dynamic blends EJAE’s extensive pop background with Mark’s theater storytelling. 

“We’re constantly policing each other like, ‘Hey EJAE, let’s get back to the story.’ So if I’m writing a line and it’s kind of general, you’d be like: That’s not really telling what Rumi wants to say. So he helped me a lot. Or you would write a lot of words and I’d be like: Oh no, it’s too many words!” EJAE shared.

The result, as you know by now, became irresistible songs with deep storytelling packed in.

Building “Golden”

“This is the story of the girls. This is the story of Huntrix. How do you get the backstory of all three of these girls in like eight lines of this song? And so, figuring out the melody that has enough syllables to do that,” Mark continued.

They debated between two melodies, but ultimately chose the one with “more real estate” for lyrics. With many versions sent back and forth among writers, directors, and producers, they coordinated to build Golden as the thematic backbone of the Huntrix trio. “Maggie was coming back and being like, can it be more yearning?” said Mark.

The audience then had a fun moment to sing along (briefly) with the songwriters.

The Hunter’s Mantra: The Film’s Spiritual Core & Korean Roots

Maggie and Chris had written what elements needed to be in “The Prologue (Hunter’s Mantra),” and EJAE composed it to be powerful, emotional, and cinematic. “Every time EJAE sent a voice memo, it was like, where is this divine inspiration coming from?!” Mark said in awe.

EJAE said, “It was a melody that could fit in many outfits throughout the movie.” She then dived deeper into how her being bilingual and culturally rooted helped her blend tradition + pop + cinematic styles. “The Korean lyrics aren’t modern, they’re actually old historical Korean.”

She continued to explain “pansori” (Korean traditional storytelling), which is typically known for emotional grit and vocal power, and that she blended it with “arirang” (Korean folk anthem), which is a more modern melodic approach. “I’m proud I brought that side of Korea into it,” EJAE smiled.

“Your Idol”: The Film’s Darkest Track 

Internally called The Black Hat song, EJAE is the original singer and songwriter for the “demo” version of “Your Idol.” 

She shared, “I don’t know if Maggie and Chris know this, but I purposely put the Mantra reversed as the intro. It sounds really eerie and demonic that way. So I did that, and then I harmonized it.” Drawing upon childhood exposure from her dad’s appreciation for cathedral Latin music, she layered in different harmonies to translate her metaphor strategy of: “They’re trying to kill the Honmoon.” 

“To sound like a dude, I had to transpose my tracks down. I had hundreds of tracks for this. I had to do the lead tracks, the doubles, harmonies, and effects vocals. I’m one vocalist and literally had to pitch down every single vocal take,” said EJAE. “Screaming in my room, it was fun.”

Mark added, “My favorite part of the song – dropping the beat going into the chorus. It’s missing a beat, and you just slam into the chorus harder, and it’s cool when there’s like little sort of weird things happening.”

EJAE continued, “Exactly, it was great. THEBLACKLABEL, like 24, and TEDDY just killed it with the trap. It’s like modern combined with that choir voice and the trap beats.”

The Soundtrack That Will Dominate Your Spotify Unwrapped

With multiple writing teams, working with people who have or haven’t done films before, “collaboration was so important and just no ego, and just making sure the song is king and making sure the story is alive while writing these songs were so hard, but magical,” said EJAE. “I think we did it!”

With KPop Demon Hunters being the most watched movie in Netflix history and with five Grammy nominations of Song of the Year (“Golden”), “Best Pop Duo/Group Performances (“Golden”), Best Song Written for Visual Media (“Golden”), Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media (The “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack) and Best Remixed Recording (“Golden” David Guetta REM/X), it’s safe to say, yes, yes they did. 

Thank you, Netflix, for inviting us to this intimate event! I look forward to seeing my Spotify Unwrapped to confirm what I already know.

The post How ‘Golden’ Was Made: The Songwriting Geniuses Behind KPop Demon Hunters’ Viral Soundtrack appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

Persona Live 2026: Awakenings marks the first time the Persona Music Experience series is headed to the U.S. It will include the performers from Japan and debut at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, on Saturday, January 24, 2026. Two shows will be held that day, with live performances from artists including:

• Lyn Inaizumi: Singer of Persona 5 series
• Azumi Takahashi: Singer of Persona 3 Reload
• Lotus Juice: Rapper and vocalist of Persona 3 & Persona 3 Reload
• Toshiki Konishi: Composer and guitarist from the Atlus Sound Team

For those who went to Anime Expo this year, fans were treated to special performances from Lyn Inaizumi at the Persona 5: The Phantom X panel and a special concert at The Novo.

Here are the details below:

When: Saturday, January 24, 2026

Where: Dolby Theater, 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028

Ticket Sales:

Pre-Sale: Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 10 AM PT

Public On-Sale: Friday, November 7, 2025 at 10 AM PT

More info available here: https://www.sega.com/persona-live-2026-awakenings-event-details

The post Persona Live 2026: Awakenings Brings Japan’s Original Musicians to Hollywood for First U.S. Concert appeared first on Nerd Reactor.

JET with Dallas Wax Event Details:
Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Time: Doors open 7:00 PM | Show begins 8:00 PM
Venue: Aviator Nation’s Dreamland – 22969 PCH, Malibu
Ages: 21+
Link to Tix: https://www.tixr.com/groups/dreamland/events/jet-152160
Pricing: $150

The band is from Dingley Village in Melbourne, Australia, and was formed in 2001. Their debut album, Get Born (2003), sold over 6.5 million copies worldwide and earned nearly 10x Platinum certification in Australia, and a Platinum in the U.S. and U.K.

Other hits include “Look What You’ve Done and “Rollover DJ,” and the band won six AROA Awards in 2004. “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” and “Cold Hard B****” reached No. 1 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts. In 2023, Jet performed their first live shows in five years for the 20th anniversary of Get Born, performing the album in full.

The post Rock Band Jet to Perform in Malibu, CA, on November 11 for One-Night Show appeared first on Nerd Reactor.